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Re: Clip: The Ratt Trap

I haven t been following this thread (it ll give me something to read tomorrow on New Year s Day ), but the Chuck Eddy style/new snarky (as far as I

Message 1 of 37
, Dec 31, 2002

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I haven't been following this thread (it'll give me something to
read tomorrow on New Year's Day <g>), but the "Chuck Eddy
style/new snarky" (as far as I understand it from glancing at
some posts here) is familiar to those of us who read (or tried to
read them) punk/indie fanzines during the 70's and 80's. And as
far as Eddy and heavy metal, has anybody mentioned his
godawful (IMO) book, Stairway To Hell? Here's a review from the
Onion AV Club:

Stairway To Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums In The
Universe
Any list that attempts to define some sort of cultural canon, be it
AFI's "100 Greatest American Movies" or the Modern Library's
"100 Greatest English-Language Novels," is bound to inspire
contention. Some lists, in fact, are simply meant to spark debate
and foster discussion through intentionally controversial
inclusions and omissions. But Chuck Eddy's hilarious, wickedly
malicious book Stairway To Hell is so obviously goofy that it's
just as likely to incite laughing fits as fist-fights. Eddy is a rock
critic firmly in the vein of Robert Christgau, and his occasionally
incomprehensible wordplay and cute alliterations sometimes
get the better of him. But this new edition of his 1991 book, with
an updated list of the "100 Best Heavy Metal Albums Of The '90s"
is essential for any metalhead smart enough to realize the sheer
inanity of his or her chosen genre. What makes Stairway To Hell
such argument fodder is Eddy's extremely broad definition of
heavy metal, which includes such dubiously metal acts as
Funkadelic, Sonic Youth, Miles Davis, Cheap Trick, Hüsker Dü,
Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, and just about any other remotely
"loud-guitar" group. Of course, Eddy includes such obvious
metal bands as Metallica and Slayer, but readers may be
surprised how low they're ranked. Eddy is shameless in
compiling his list: Headbangers without a sense of humor may
scoff at the number of entries allotted to poodle-rockers like
Poison, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, and Kixwhich lands three
albums in the top 50let alone the author's earnest, but not
serious, tone. What makes Eddy so much fun is his insistence
on egalitarian review: To Eddy, Led Zeppelin, The Stooges, Last
Exit, and Run D.M.C. are all to be judged by the same
wonderfully vague standards, which he admittedly has trouble
illustrating in the foreword. So don't look for any logic behind
Eddy's decision to rank Teena Marie and The Jimmy Castor
Bunch well over, say, Master Of Puppets. Or Eddy's decision to
claim Rancid's Let's Go as the Numero Uno of this decade, over
the far more obvious Nevermind. Or even Eddy's decision to
define both Rancid and Nirvana as metal at all. Just drop on your
favorite Sabbath platter (his is Sabotage), kick up your feet, and
let the battle of wills begin. Joshua Klein